Creative Think

I Receive A Patent from the USPTO

On July 24, 2007, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) granted me US Patent 7,247,075 for my design of the "right regular golden rhombic pyramid" which is the basic building block of the Ball of Whacks. You can read about it HERE in the USPTO's Full-Text Database.

As you can see, I'm very excited. I have other intellectual property including registered trademarks and copyrights, but this was my first patent.

I submitted my patent application to the USPTO on November 15, 2004. Thus, the whole process took over 32 months.

I wrote my own fifteen page patent application. Why did I do it myself and not turn it over to a patent attorney? There were three reasons.

• First, I didn't want to spend the $10,000-75,000 on a lawyer.
• Second, I thought it would be an incredible learning opportunity (which it was).
• Third, I wanted to see if a regular small-time inventor (me) would be able to figure out the patent arcana without a lawyer.

It took me about a month to write my application. Bill Seidel recommended that I read David Pressman's book, Patent It Yourself, which was an enormous help. My friend David Gildea (a registered Patent Agent and a fellow Stanford Masters swimmer) gave me some very useful advice — especially regarding "chaining claims." My CAD designer, Jason Hilbourne, also had some valuable pointers.

I'll be candid and say that dealing with the USPTO was "quite challenging." There were a lot of hoops to go through and hurdles to jump. I received several rejections, and had to write lengthy appeals. I had a number of phone conversations with my examiner and his supervisor.

There were times I considered giving up on the whole process. But I continued to press on. David Gildea gave me some good advice on "prior art and obviousness." Finally, in late May, I received word that my design was patentable and would be approved in July.

I learned a lot from the whole experience, including:

• Keep good records and make copies of them (things sometimes go missing at the USPTO);
• A regular, normal individual willing to put in the time and effort can get a patent; and,
• Be persistent, be persistent, be persistent.

Scoble Awaits iPhone, Plays with Ball of Whacks

Carnival atmosphere at the Palo Alto Apple store. Eminent blogger Robert Scoble (April profile) and his 13 year old son Patrick arrived early Thursday morning to be the first and second in line to get their hands on a new iPhone.

When I took this photo Thursday afternoon, there were about 20 or so people camping out. As you can see, the young ladies behind Scoble are really pumped up.

While he's waiting to get his hands on an iPhone, Scoble got his hands on the new Blue Ball of Whacks. The Ball of Whacks brought a big smile to his face (and should give him something to play with tonight as he sleeps in front of the store).

Lots of buzz. Local entrepreneurs and VCs. Zooomr TV was there, and CNBC will be there later. I got to spend 2 minutes telling their audience about the Ball of Whacks. Does the iPhone's Halo extend that far? Lots of fun!

What Brings a Twinkle to an Author's Eye

If you've ever written a book or created a new product, you know what a wonderful feeling it is to see your book (or product) in stores. The corollary is also true: if you can't find your product in stores, it's a frustrating experience.

My most recent product is the Ball of Whacks. It has been selling well, and people seem to enjoy playing with it. I was in New York recently and visited several high-profile stores that carry it. What joy!

The first was the Museum of Modern Art Design Store. Here is a shot showing its display. It's even got one of those little signs (off to the right) that treat it like a work of art: "Ball of Whacks. Roger von Oech. 2006." Real classy!

I got a photo of the store manager and asst. manager happily holding the Ball. They said that it sells well there.

I then walked up the street to the flagship FAO Schwarz store at 58th and 5th (right next to the new Apple store). Just as you walk in the door on the right is a big corner display with about 50 Balls of Whacks waiting to find new homes. Here's a customer taking a look. Often FAO has a person giving live product demonstrations, and I'm told that does wonders for sales.

 

An Evening With Virginia Postrel

Thanks to a heads-up from Diego Rodriguez (Metacool), I attended a lecture last night by writer/design-thinker Virginia Postrel at Stanford. (It was part of a the David Lui Memorial Lecture Series in Design.)

I had not met Virginia before, but I had a chance to chat with her before her lecture. She was warm and friendly. I thanked her for the kind things she had said about the Ball of Whacks in her blog, and I was glad she was having fun playing with it. We both acknowledged that it's nice to be mentioned in Glenn Reynolds' Instapundit blog because it creates, as she put it, "an Instalanche" of site visits.

Virginia then spent the next hour presenting her design ideas to the packed auditorium (mainly appreciative designers and design students). Among other things, she discussed the "design explosion." It makes good business sense to improve the aesthetic experience of products and places — to "make them special." She gave many examples for her points.

She singled out Starbucks as a company that has successfully used aesthetics as a strategic tool. Starbucks "is in the business of creating appealing social spaces for people." She went on, "Starbucks is to the age of aesthetics what McDonalds was to the age of convenience, and what Ford was to the age of mass production."

She also shared a number of ideas from her book Substance and Style, and then took questions for another twenty minutes. I asked her about Bruce Nussbaum's recent comments (in BusinessWeek) about "Are Designers The Enemy of Design?" She spoke about the growing DYI (Design It Yourself) movement, and also recognized that good professional designers are really knowledgeable and create some amazing things. She also adroitly handled questions about world music, and the availability of fresh produce in grocery markets.

Thanks Virginia for a fun, stimulating evening!

(BTW: here are some of Virginia's Ball of Whacks designs!)

      

 

         

Ball of Whacks Update

I'd like to thank all of you who have written to me about the Ball of Whacks. I appreciate your very nice comments. I'm glad you're having fun using it to stimulate your creativity!

I thought I'd take a few moments and let you know how the product is doing. As readers of this blog know, I spent about a year-and-a-half developing it (designing it, prototyping it, engineering it, going to China to manufacture it, etc.)

Finally in late September, 2006 my first run arrived in the United States. I got good word of mouth on the Blogosphere starting in October and that pushed sales. Plus, my partner Stuart Kaplan was able to get it into a number of stores including FAO Schwarz and many museum and other retail stores. It also did well in the online arena, for example ThinkGeek.com and our own e-commerce store CreativeWhack.com (you can see a fun 1 minute BOW video there).

 

We sold out the initial run in early December (sigh! just before Christmas). Toward the end of October, I doubled my second order from my Chinese manufacturer. And these are just arriving now.

The Ball of Whacks is really a product for 2007. Our first big marketing show is "Toy Fair" in New York the second week of February. We hope to generate a lot of interest and . . . sales! (Wish us luck!)

I've thanked many of the bloggers who wrote about it (here and here). But one person I haven't acknowledged yet in this blog is Glenn Reynolds who gave it several mentions (here and here) in his Instapundit blog. Thanks for the "Instalanche, Glenn!"

Charlie Yo-Yo Demonstrates the Ball of Whacks at FAO Schwarz in Manhattan

Remember that scene in the 1988 film "Big" in which the Tom Hanks character dances with the store manager on the big floor piano at FAO Schwarz? If you don't, here it is. [It's 2 minutes long, but all you need to watch is about 20 seconds.]

I've always wondered what it would be like to work at FAO Schwarz and demonstrate products for the "guests."

And then — completely out of the blue! — I got this email several days ago from someone named "Charlie Yo-Yo."

Greetings Roger!

My name is Charlie, and I'm one of the people demonstrating the Ball of Whacks at FAO Schwarz in Manhattan. I've been having a lot of fun with it.

So, being quite intimate with the Ball of Whacks as I am, I thought I would introduce myself to you, because I feel like we're already friends in a way.

Here's an example of how my pitch goes: I have it in my hand, in one kind of configuration or another, and I'm standing near the boxed products.

"Hi!  I'm playing with a Ball of Whacks  — It's a brand new designer toy, it was made by a guy named Roger von Oech, who is an expert in creative thinking."

I'll then make a piece of hand candy out of two whacks.  I then put it in the guest's hand.

"See, doesn't it feel nice in your hand?"

About now, the guest will ask how do you play with it . . . .

"There's really no one way to play with it, it's a very open ended toy - it comes with this book by the designer, it's a really great book, [I flip through some pages] you see he gives lots of ideas about how to configure it and play with it, some exercises and games you can play with it. 

Most importantly, though, he explains how just playing with a toy like this, just goofing around with it, can exercise your brain.  It gets the neurons firing in your head.  This can be very useful when it comes to things like solving problems.  Quite often, when I play with this toy, I find it leads me in directions I didn't think I would go.  This kind of activity can be quite useful for solving problems in other areas of your life. "

In fact, if you or someone you know, has to do a lot of problem solving, this would make a great gift.  For an engineer, or a creative executive, artists, college students.  It looks nice, just the way it looks makes you want to hold it in your hand, and it feels nice in your hand too.  It's a great piece of hand candy."

Congratulations, I think it's a great product. You might be interested in knowing that at one point last week, a six year old boy was very attracted to the Ball of Whacks.  At first I was a bit cautious, because I know it is recommended for eight and up.  This boy took to it and understood it right away.  I was amazed to see him assemble something best described as a "standing star," sorta like a star with three legs.  It was something I didn't see in your book, and something I hadn't thought of making myself.  It was very impressive.  The boy's dad was impressed as well, and it resulted in a sale.

Oh, and by the way, I'm a professional yo-yo player, and normally that is what I demo for FAO.  My manager thought I would be a good fit for your product, and that's what I'm doing when we're sold out of yo-yos!

Best wishes to you,

Charlie

Many thanks Charlie! I appreciate your "hands on" efforts.

So how does one become a professional demonstrator? I followed up with Charlie, and asked him for his background. And this is what he said:

My background . . . educationally I studied art.  BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  But most of my career has been in toys. I've worked in almost every aspect of the toy business - demonstrating, marketing and product development, and most importantly, sales (where you make your money). 

Currently I work part time at FAO as a demonstrator, but during the week I am a sales rep for about twenty different off-brand Chinese manufacturers. In the meantime though, as I said, I am a professional yo-yo player, I've worked for a few different yo-yo companies - this is what I look like in action:

Question for readers: What product demonstration experiences can you share?

Ball of Whacks Thanks

Our e-commerce store, Creative Whack, is open for business. Check it out — especially if you're interested in taking a closer look at — and perhaps purchasing— the Ball of Whacks. There's a fun 1 minute video you can see about the BOW, as well.

      

I'd like to thank the following people who have recently written some very kind things about the Ball of Whacks.  They are:

Author, columnist Virginia Postrel at the Dynamist  (the above photos are from Virginia; they were made at the Postrel household). Virginia called the Ball of Whacks "really fun," and said "it would make a great present."

MIT Professor John Maeda in The Laws of Simplicity. John says that the Ball of Whacks is "easy to take apart, feels good, and creates a quick emotional bond."

Corporate branding expert Jennifer Goff at Brains on Fire. She said that she and the Brains on Fire team "can't keep our hands off it. Thanks!"

Mobile media space mogul Andy Nulman at Pow! Right Between the Eyes. Andy says that playing with it "has become so addictive," but that he's "coming up with more good 'n' creative ideas" so everything's okay.

Canadian marketing wizard Colin McKay in Canuckflack. He says, "When I have the Ball at my desk, everyone — I mean everyone — who stops by plays with it. And when I took it home, my three kids fought to play with it."

Wunderkind designer and trend-spotter Josh Spear in Josh Spear. Josh says, "Take a peak at the video — how fun!"

Direct sales entrepreneur Marc Accetta in Marc Accetta. Marc says the Ball is "Perfect."

Media producer Steve Hardy in Creative Generalist. Steve says the Ball of Whacks has been "an irresistable tinker toy that draws visitors in for a couple of minutes to first figure it out and then to reconstruct it in some unusual structure."

And, finally, Ethernet inventor and venture capitalist Bob Metcalfe. Bob was kind enough to say, "Beauty drives creativity, and the Ball of Whacks is gorgeous!"

Thanks to all of you for your very kind words.

Here is multimedia designer Dave Strong's favorite Ball of Whacks construction:

Offbeat Ball of Whacks Promos

We'll be exhibiting the Ball of Whacks later in the week at a major trade show in New York. For fun, we had the noted illustrator Jody Boginski paint some pictures of the Ball of Whacks in some offbeat situations. These were then turned into handout promo cards for the product. (Click on the pictures to see larger versions.)

I think they're a kick!

Technorati Tags: Creativity, Ball of Whacks

Appearing At Keplers

Today I did an author event for the Ball of Whacks at that great institution -- Keplers bookstore in Menlo Park (CA). Keplers is a storied place and one of the world's great independent bookstores. It's been a few years since I promoted a product in a bookstore (last time around was 2002 for Expect the Unexpected). I had forgotten how nice it is to meet with real customers and hear their questions and then answer them. Even nicer is to watch the customers play with the Ball of Whacks and then -- gasp! -- go to the cashier and buy it. It makes an author's heart go "pitter-patter." It was a fun event!

Here I am with store owner (and book world legend) Clark Kepler. Clark says, "By all means check it out." Back in 1982, when I had just self-published "A Whack on the Side of the Head," Clark bought the book from me making Keplers the first bookstore to carry it. (Three months later, I did a deal with Warner Books for them to publish Whack.)

Technorati Tags: Creativity, Ball of Whacks

The Hand Stimulates the Brain

People often ask me, “How do you get yourself into a creative mood?”

One of my favorite techniques is to take an object about the size of a ball and then play with it. I’ll flip it back and forth from hand to hand. I’ll toss it in the air. I’ll try grasping it in various ways, or let it roll from finger to finger. Sometimes I just hold it, feel its surface, and let it soothe me. Doing this stimulates a different part of my brain, and gets me into a creative frame of mind.

Indeed, some recent studies have shown that activating your basic motor functions can improve mental performance. I read about a particular one that had two similar groups of people take a mental acuity test. Prior to the test, members of the control group sat quietly in a room for twenty minutes. Members of the target group, however, spent the same time in another room cutting skins off apples with sharp knives. Then both groups took the test. The motor skill-activated group — the apple-parers — performed better. One reason is that a considerable portion of the human brain is dedicated to hand-related functions. So, there’s something about getting people’s hands and eyes working together that gets their neurons firing!

For me, the same thing happens when I handle the Ball of Whacks, which is my newest product. It consists of 30 magnetic design blocks that I can manipulate and turn into many different shapes. If you'd like to know more, Here's a one minute video on the Ball of Whacks.